Currently viewing the tag: "Brad Ziegler"
Last week in setting a benchmark for wins needed from the rotation, I used a placeholder for wins we could expect from the bullpen: about 2.5 above replacement. It was intended to be conservative, but if this season is any guide, the bullpen could be quite a lot better than catch-all statistics like Wins Above Replacement would indicate. As …
Continue Reading →It’s starting to look like the D-backs may end up having discussions about Jeremy Hellickson — something we thought in our Midseason Plan would be a good idea to initiate. Hellickson followed a rocky April with a solid May, but had his worst month in June. So far in July, he has a 2.50 ERA in three starts. Not enough …
Continue Reading →The Diamondbacks are not a particularly good team when it comes to pitching. By ERA, they rank 26th in the majors. Since we know that Chase Field punishes pitchers more than almost any other park, that’s probably not the best way to look at them. If we choose a defense-independent, park-adjusted metric, they’re basically the same, ranking 24th…
Continue Reading →This July, the D-backs are less at a crossroads, as they may have been last year, and more at a mountain peak, finally seeing the journey ahead with a high degree of clarity. The team has built for 2016 and 2017, and never at the expense of this season. But as of this writing, twelve efforts to climb back to …
Continue Reading →At what point did you realize during the 2014 season that that you had been watching a train wreck? The D-backs’ first few weeks of games were so bad that it essentially killed the season. We knew that, but nothing put an exclamation point on it quite like when Mike Bolsinger was installed in the rotation.
Bolsinger was coming off …
Continue Reading →Baseball seems so simple if you’re not looking closely, but I’d beg to differ. Every baseball play starts with the pitcher, and pitchers are always seeking to improve their odds of defeating the batter in the box. Their weapons to do so are contained in an arsenal of pitches that they have at their disposal. But here’s the thing: for …
Continue Reading →The Diamondbacks’ bullpen has been pretty good this year. After two years of constantly being burned by the ‘pen, things have shaped up. Some of those past struggles were seemingly part bad luck and part poor pitching. When those things come together, well, you’ve seen the results; it’s not pretty. On the flip-side, a lucky ‘pen can be a nice …
Continue Reading →A bad closer on a bad team is bad news. So Diamondbacks fans have reason to be frustrated with Addison Reed and manager Kirk Gibson’s decision to keep him in the closing role. Reed blew his fourth save of the season on Tuesday, he is pitching to a 4.15 ERA (4.57 FIP), and his always troubling HR/FB rate has ballooned …
Continue Reading →Attempting to draw up and execute an all-encompassing plan for the trade deadline is a bit like forming a battle plan while the battle is already raging. But we’re taking a run at it, because we’re good like that.
It’s a foregone conclusion that the D-backs will be sellers at the deadline this year. We know the front office has …
Continue Reading →Building a major league roster is a lot like building a sandcastle while the tide is coming in. Focus on some positions to the detriment of others, and you’ll never complete it adequately. Take too little care in order to complete it sooner, and you’ll never win the contest. One must be methodical and effective — and also realistic about …
Continue Reading →What is a Chief Baseball Officer? We’re due to find out, after the D-backs hired Tony La Russa to fill that newly-created role with the team. In a site editorial, we noted that while the hiring comes as a welcome change, there are still many questions about La Russa’s actual role.
La Russa will report to CEO Derrick Hall and …
Continue Reading →Last week, we explored the performance of the Diamondbacks’ position players this season compared to their preseason projections. Never one to leave you hanging, it’s time that we apply the same methodology to the pitching staff. The necessary caveats were in the previous post, but I’ll remind the reader that these projections are updated to reflect the performances …
Continue Reading →Nearly two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks signed Brad Ziegler to a two-year deal worth $10.5M in guaranteed payments, avoiding arbitration for the team’s last year of control. The yearly salaries — $4.5M in 2014, $5M in 2015, and even $5.5M for the 2016 option year — are extremely reasonable rates for the club. Make no mistake: Ziegler is a very …
Continue Reading →*Previous entries: Steamer Projections Primer | 2014 Rotation | 2014 Outfield
Writing about the Arizona bullpen is like having to talk to your neighbors. No, not the friendly neighbors who invited you over drinks last night, I’m talking about the neighbors who smile when you see them but throw their dog poop over the fence and into your lawn. …
Continue Reading →Like many teams, Arizona is monitoring the market for potential upgrades via trade. Given the recent performance of the rotation and the imminent return of Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy, the Dbacks really do not have a need for a starting pitcher. There are very few starters available who might represent an upgrade anyway. Likewise, the Dbacks do not …
Continue Reading →@ryanpmorrison
Congrats to @OutfieldGrass24 on a beautiful life, wedding and wife. He deserves all of it (they both do). And I cou… https://t.co/JzJtQ7TgdJ, - Best part of Peralta’s 108 mph fliner over the fence, IMHO: that he got that much leverage despite scooping it out… https://t.co/ivBrl76adF,
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